2010/08/17

The text below is taken from the record of the meeting of Stalin and W. Averell Harriman, the U.S. Ambassador to the USSR. Full declassified document is available here. The text was published in Russian by Sergey Oboguev in his blog. Thanks to Sergey for the interesting find.

Conversation. 8:20, Moscow, August 8, 1945.

TOP SECRET

Present: W. A. Harriman, American Ambassador

George F. Kennan,
Minister Counselor

Generalissimus
Stalin

V. M. Molotov,
People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs

Mr. Pavlov, Soviet interpreter

...

The Ambassador asked what he thought of the effects of the news of
the atomic bomb would have on the Japanese.

The Generalissimus replied that he thought the Japanese were at
present looking for a pretext to replace the present government with
one which would be qualified to undertake a surrender. The atomic bomb
might give them this pretext.

The Ambassador observed that it was a good thing we had invented
this and not the Germans. For long, he said, no one had dared think it
would be a success. It was only a few days before the President had
told Stalin about it in Berlin that we had learned definitely that it
would work succesfully.

The Generalissimus replied that Soviet scientists said that it was
a very difficult problem to work out.

The Ambassador said that if the Allies could keep it and apply it
for peaceful purposes it would be a great thing.

The Generalissimus agreed and said that would mean the end of the
war and aggressors. But the secret would have to be well kept.

The Ambassador said that it could have great importance for
peaceful purposes.

The Generalissimus replied, "unquestionably". He added that Soviet
scientists had also tried to do it but had not succeeded. They had
found one laboratory in Germany where the Germans had evidently been
working on the same problem but Russians could not find that they had
come to any results. If they had found it, Hitler would never have
surrendered. England, too, had gotten nowhere with these researches
although they had excellent physicists.

The Ambassador explained that the English had pooled their
knowledge with us since 1941. But it had taken enormous installations
to conduct the experiments and to achieve final results.

Quaerere

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